The doorbell rang through the caravan. "I'll get it!" Pierrot yelled as she ran for the door.
She opened the door to see Sig's uncle with a look of relief on his face. "Sil, you're back! Where've you been!? We've been so worried!"
"Oh." Pierrot looked at her feet. She took off her mask throwing the uncle off a bit. It was a false alarm, he was greeted by Silvana's green-eyed, blonde sister. "I'm sorry, Uncle Stan… Sil is still gone."
It was Amitie, and that became unmistakable when she took off the hood as well. "Ah! This is not good." He mused looking to the side at nothing.
"Is Sig okay? He's been really sad at school." Amitie said sadly herself.
"He's quieter, it went from 75% chance if he'll hear me to a 10%."
"It was 20% at school. That's bad!" Amitie worried.
"No kidding." Sig's uncle said, he felt a little drained. "And I fear that it'll get worse for my boy if Sil doesn't return…"
"Gosh..."
"…Sorry. I didn't mean to drag you down with me. I just like to know why she's gone."
"I'd like to know too… Well, I've got to inspect your dad's restaurant. Make Silvana proud and say hi to you mom for me."
"Will do, Uncle Stan. Say hi to Dad and Sig for me."
"Of course. C-Can you… Uhmm."
"?"
"Nevermind… It was a horrible idea anyway." The man said sullen, wiping his head with his hands from top to bottom with a lot of pressure on it as left. "Bye."
"Bye." Amitie waved. She closed the door and tried to find her mom before she forgot. Melody was found asleep at her typewriter again. Amitie gently shook her awake.
"Whu? Ammy? Did I forget something?" The mother rubbed the sand out of her eyes.
"No. Uncle Stan dropped by, he said hi."
"Oh…" She yawned. "How nice of him." She yawned some more. "Have I ever told you that if it wasn't for your dad I would've married Stan."
Amitie made a face at the reminder and steered off-topic. "Sil's still gone."
"Oh…" That soured the woman's mood. "How long has she been gone?"
"…Three days… Was it something I said? Was she unhappy with us?"
Melody winced. 'It's not out of the possibility.' She refrained from saying that out loud to her daughter though. Especially not while she's wearing her clown suit. "Let's hope she'll come back, maybe we missed a note somewhere and she's visiting Lemres in Zeri again for something."
"…"
"Go and practice, Ammy. That's what she would want."
"…You're right. I shouldn't have made her wear that bikini… I am so embarrassed to her…" She moped.
Melody let out a big sigh when Amitie was out of earshot. "What have I done?" He clasped onto the back of her skull, while her forehead was pressed against the table. Guilt nibbling at her heart from what happened.
It's been three days since Silvana had disappeared. Melody needed to come clean. She'll start with her family...
As usual, Melody felt very sleepy. Though she supposed she should go for a walk or maybe watch Sil's performers practice. She found the strength to lift her arm off her head and slap herself awake.
Chapter 78: Gone Home
The mother entered the big top. Like her daughter, she really enjoyed the circus. She would join too if she had the time. She's a bit too far in her life to make it though. Plus narcolepsy and circus work don't mix.
"Rib Rib~" Donguri Gaeru greeted her as he hopped out of the tent with an empty bucket.
"Good afternoon to you too, Ribbitie. The crew holding out?"
"Rib. Ribbit, ribbit ribbit… Ribbit rib~"
"That's good to hear despite the concern… So mister manager, mind if I watch everyone practice again?"
"Rib."
"Thanks."
She was greeted by the welcomes of the varying employees. She smiled as she waved back. The smile was a little forced though, she was really nervous.
She's the reason their boss was gone…
Occasionally she saw the thoughts of Silvana seep through them. Even through masked performers like Vento and especially her own daughter. Frankly, it was concerning Amitie could hide it as well as she did. The girl was never subtle about her emotions. Sil must've given her acting lessons. Amitie is a performer now.
Or she's finally maturing and the mother just has Silvana disappearance on the brain. That nasty thought crossed her mind.
The Circus' main magician/fashion designer walked up to the equipment Melody was leaning forward against. "Hello again, Melody. Walking around in your pajamas again, are we." The skeleton said a bit annoyed.
"Whu? Oh." She looked down, being a bit red from embarrassment. "I'll be asleep again in an hour anyway, I'm not gonna change now." She looked at her daughter helping Hohow practice.
Oshare silently scoffed. He groaned even, but he got no reaction out of her. "Seems like you're one of the most affected." He spoke in a more civil and emphatic tone.
"I feel so horrible about Sil, it doesn't feel right to still live in her caravan, but our house is still lethal to be in."
"Ugh. I remember a time where the mayor at the time would immediately supply you an empty house. Good things don't last…" He shook his head.
Melody didn't react.
"I'm too out of touch with how sleepiness feels, so forgive me on that one." He said staring at what he presumed Melody was staring at.
"…Are you not worried about Sil?"
"Of course. But I've also had lost more people you have I would hope."
"…I can't help but feel I'm responsible." She softened the truth a bit.
"So do Amitie, Vento, Hohow, that employee over there that accidentally gave Silvana the wrong tea and she drunk it anyway."
"What are you trying to say?"
"It could be any and all of us are guilty, or none of us are. Ever caught a glimpse of that girl vulnerable? I'd say it's fair to say that Silvana got a crucial screw loose in that department."
"As in…?"
"I'm calling her mentally unstable. She could've set herself off from the teeniest little comment said about her. And I don't blame her…"
"I feel worse now." Melody said about few things her sleepy head picked up. She witnessed Amitie going to the catering room. "Is it break time already?" She asked the skeleton.
"No."
Melody made a sleepy moan. She stopped leaning and shambled after her daughter.
Her little clown had her arms and head face down. The mask was off as evidenced by laying next to her. Melody got closer until she stopped at Amitie's mumbling.
"I'm Pierrot, I'm Pierrot, I'm Pierrot. I'm Pier…" She kept going on. Melody figured her offspring tried to psyche herself up. Too bad that's not the way to do that. She heard Amitie gasp as she comforted her. She was taken by surprise.
"Are you okay, Ammy?" She asked somewhat rhetorically at Amitie's teary face where the tears were lacking.
"No." So whispered as he buried her head again. "I don't wanna take over Pierrot like this… Not while I don't know what happened to Sil." She wept harder.
Mrs. Rose felt her heart stabbed again. She definitely needed to tell what happened to her when her husband gets back. "Ammy… Go to your room. Have a good cry."
"But I wanna practice…"
"No." The mother raised her voice making the daughter wince. "I don't want you to have an accident because you're distraught. Do you think Sil wants that?"
"…Noooooo…"
"Good." The daughter got a hug and a kiss on her cheek. "I'll tell them you're taking some time off."
"'Kay…" Amitie walked back to Sil's caravan.
Melody let out a giant yawn. "I'm in need of a power nap…" Melody had struggled to find Donguri to tell her about Amitie's leave for the day.
The woman fell asleep on a couch. Her husband will wake her up.
'What if Sil's really gone?' Was her last thought before she dozed off.
A few hours had past and Melody, awake enough, gathered her family in the living room.
Amitie gave her a big scare when she wasn't in her room. She thought she'd lost another girl for a sec. Turned out she was in Sil's room.
Mr. Amitie's dad had been calmer about this situation than the rest. He was worried for sure, but he's way less anxious and restless (in multiple senses of the word) than the rest of the family.
"Okay." Melody nervously paced back and forth in front of the couch where her family sat awaiting what she was gonna say. "So… We don't where Sil is… B-But I… do know wh-why she's gone." Melody realized this was harder than she thought it was going to be.
Amitie's eyes widened, she slammed and clasped the rims of the couch as she leaned forward. "For real!? Tellustellustellus!" She got her energy back.
Melody took a big gulp as her posture worsened. She folded her arms and shivered a bit.
"It's my fault…" She admitted.
"Wha?" Amitie's gut reaction was a feeling of betrayal. Her dad held her though.
"How so, Dear?"
"So… Have you guys noticed that she called us "Mommy" and "Daddy"?"
"Get real!" Amitie was amazed. "Since when?"
"The past week at the least, Kiddo." Her Dad said.
"What?"
"I don't she noticed it, so I didn't want to say anything." He continued to say. "It felt right."
"It did for me too…" Melody tensed up a little. " But then… Oh, I'm so sorry! I pointed out it out to her. I'm so sorry!" She covered her head in shame. Right now she was demonstrating where Amitie's emotional personality came from.
Her family just sat there. "Ah, I see. That's why she's nowhere to be found?" Her husband told.
Amitie scooted over to make place on the couch for her mom to sit between them. Mr. dad caught on and did the same. All three tried to make each feel better by sitting next to each other. They all felt they lost a family member.
"Wh-when I-I called attention to it. She went berserk and ran off… I ran after her trying to sooth her. But I lost her. Eventually, I did find a weird rip that looked like a portal to another world. I didn't know if Sil went through. And I didn't dare to go through… And before I knew it closed. I'm sorry…"
"Don't through portals mommy! Sil can find her way back, you can't!" The kid held her mom's arm tight.
The mom sighed. "Common sense prevailed… Not that it feels any good… Vibitia is in hell, Sil is somewhere where we can't reach her…"
"Silvana is not lost, dear." Said the man holding her hand. "Unlike hell, dimension-hopping isn't a one-way street."
"But Dad. Sil did come back from hell too." Amitie,
"Did she? Oh yeah. I find it surprising that something like cheating death is the least remarkable thing about a person. But that's not what I want to talk about." The man said with a smile. "She'll be right back, sooner or later… And it'll be all behind us."
Melody's spirits weren't raised by her partner trying to put an optimistic viewpoint on the situation.
"In fact, I have a hunch that…"
…
…
"A hunch of what, Honey?"
"That I'm right behind you, mom."
The girls jumped off the couch in shock and were propelled far from the couch by the sight of Sil's mask.
Silvana and Mr. Amitie's dad had a good laugh.
Amitie got reinvigorated. She got up and jumped over the couch, hug tackling her sister to the ground. "Sil! Is that really you!?"
"Don'ttakemymaskoffinfrontofMomandDadI'mnotreadyforthat!"
"Okay! She back, Mommy!"
"And did you just call my "mom"?" Melody was in a bit of disbelief.
"Um..." Sil mumbled as she slowly levitated herself up while Amitie loving kept clinging onto her. It took some effort. "Sorry for making you guys worry. And yeah. I'm aware of it now… I've accepted it." She said softspoken and shy. Looking at them all but in the eye.
"Are you… sure?" Melody wanted to make sure.
"Yeah… I'm caving in. Giving in to what I want on the inside..."
The mother was still unsure. She walked up to Sil and Amitie and gave them both a big hug. "So you're okay with being called our daughter?"
Sil shyly nodded. "Please don't make a bigger deal out of it, Mom…" Sil hugged her back as much as she could with her upper arms being compromised by Amitie and Melody. "I just wanna be quietly part of the family…"
"Well, let me be the second to welcome you to it, Sport." Mr. Silvana's dad joined in the group hug and both gave her a hair ruffle and a pat on the back.
Silvana giggled. "Thanks, Daddy." She enjoyed the attention.
"Now, Dear." The father looked to his wife. "It's your turn."
"Of course you're in, Sil. You're a part of the family." She said with a believing smile.
"Yaaaaaay!" Amitie cheered. "Now you're really my sis, stepsis!"
"Kiddo, a stepsister involves marriage."
"Why would I marry my sister? That's for Sig to do."
Sil was really happy. It made her forget her roots. Now she had something she missed out on.
"So, where've you been these past few days, Missy?"
"You had us worried, Sport. What happened?"
"…I don't wanna talk about it…"
Author's Notes:
Yo! The Mega Drive version of Madou Monogatari I got an English patch. Neat. I got a bunch wrong. Not gonna retcon now. Not even at the Doppelganger bit.
Ignore the next up thingy a bit, next up is mini-chapter. But… Let's just say I don't have enough RAM for it, I think.
Next up: I tell you about it.
